Those following the internet response to this, full length number fourteen from the thrash legend that is Megadeth, will not exactly be going into their first listens with high expectations – it’s been fairly vicious. And once you’ve actually heard Super Collider, it’s hard not to agree, as this is the laziest and least inspired the band has sounded in years. After a new millennial run of albums that have mostly ranged from good (Th1rt3en, The System Has Failed) to excellent (Endgame) it’s easily a fly in the ointment for those of us who have been used to good new ‘Deth metal, even if it’s nowhere near the Rust in Peaces of old. Only a couple of tracks have any genuine thrashiness to them, the rest sticking to a sort of post-World Needs a Hero vague heavy metal-ness that is not dreadful, but it’s neither inspired nor especially fun to listen to. It’s clearly a follow-up to Th1rt3en, but it seems like a collection of B-sides and offcuts from that album at best.

It’s hard to pin the blame on anything but the songwriting. Dave’s backing band, for example (Ellefson, Drover, and Broderick again) are hard to fault – some of the lead guitar is excellent and the rhythm section are never less than professional. The production is solid, the guitar tone great… but the songs just aren’t, and it becomes more apparent on multiple listens just how not-great the songs are. Take Dancing in the Rain as an example, starting with stock riffage and Dave hardly even bothering to sing. It speeds up, there’s a decent solo… and then there’s an old-school thrash break with David Draiman from Disturbed taking over on vocals – a complete mess that somehow is an album highlight for being actually interesting, something you can’t say for the utterly average likes of Off the Edge.

A few high points somehow manage to slip in, thankfully. Don’t Turn Your Back… is probably the best track present, a half-thrashing chugger that locks into the sort of catchy groove we know Dave is actually quite good at when he wants to be, complete with lots of soloing. Built for War is a decent-if-repetitive tuff-guy cruncher, and Thin Lizzy cover Cold Sweat is solid, too, and ends the album on a deceptive high point. None would be highlights on a better ‘Deth album, though, and it’s a shame that elsewhere we get the average at best – the likes of Burn! and the title track are plain boring, the choruses seemingly stolen from cheesy radio-friendly rock. The strings and slide guitar on the western-tinged The Blackest Crow are undermined by a turgid centre section, and Dave’s female counterpart on Forget to Remember (in full-on 1000 Times Goodbye awfulness) is awkwardly voiced by his daughter. Dave’s fire seems to have gone out, and Megadeth needs a serious kick in the pants to get the sort of results we known Dave and co can produce. As a fan of the band, I can only chalk this one up as an aberration, and hope that said kick happens as soon as possible…